


When You Need Me, I'll Be There

by Paladin_Willa



Series: MariBat [24]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bad Parent Talia al Ghul, Character Death, Character Revival, F, F/M, M/M, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Violence, Multi, Poly, Soulmate AU, Talia al Ghul is a bitch, idk what else to tag, no beta we die like jason, switching bodies soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28943955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paladin_Willa/pseuds/Paladin_Willa
Summary: For the longest time, Damian didn't think he have a soulmate, but he was proven wrong when he was around 17 years old. Since she could remember, Mari has had a soulmate who lived in Gotham named Xan. But suddenly when she was 9 he disappeared and a new soulmate named Damian appeared. When Xan was 10, he killed and taken by Talia and he never switched with his soulmate. Only when he escaped does he learn about Damian and only then does he feel safe.
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Batfamily Members & Original Character(s), Damian Wayne & Original Character(s), Damian Wayne/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/OC, Damian Wayne/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Xander Grayson, Dick Grayson/Alya Grayson, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne
Series: MariBat [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543573
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	When You Need Me, I'll Be There

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I wanted to do more soulmate stuff, sue me. Yes, it’s Xan/Mari/Dami. :) I hope you guys enjoy it!! The premise is you switch bodies in times of need, such as feeling overwhelmed or you don’t have what it takes to get out of something but your soulmate knows how to.

Mari looked at the creature in front of her in shock. “Please Marinette. You’re the only one that can save Paris!” the creature-named Tikki-said.

“I-I-I don’t think I can!” Mari stuttered out, fear and self-doubt clouded her eyes. But then her bluebell eyes cleared, letting the silver shine bright as her eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

Tikki looked at Mari confused before realizing. “You’re Marinette’s soulmate!” she concluded and the person slowly nodded as they looked about the room.

“Indeed, it seems she’s redecorated since the last time I’ve taken her place. So, who are you? And what’s going on?”

“I’m Tikki! A kwami, Marinette was chosen to be my holder to take down this man who has stolen two miraculous and are using them to terrorize all of Paris. The Ladybug Miraculous is the only one that can pure the Akuma. Yelling Lucky Charm gives you an item that will help you defeat the Akuma, however, after calling it you have 5 minutes before you de-transform. Please, we need to hurry before anything bad happens. I cannot assure that my powers will bring back everything damaged,” Tikki explained and Marinette nodded.

“Alright, call me….Damian, Tikki. What do I say to transform?”

“Tikki, spots on!” they nodded at hearing the words and gave Tikki a determined look.

“Make sure Mari knows to watch what I did. She can do it,” they said and Tikki nodded, wanting to help Mari be more confident. “Tikki, spots on!” They looked down to look over their outfit. It reminded him of his Robin uniform. Red combat boots with black soles and laces over black pants and a long-sleeved shirt. A red armored vest that extended past her hips a bit, black laces laced the vest up. Red gloves that go up to her elbow were armored with, once again, black laces tying them. The mask covering her face was red and like his domino mask but instead had black dots. Around her waist was a utility belt that he could feel items in with a yo-yo sitting on her hip. Finally, her hair was pulled into a braid with a red ribbon.

A hum left Marinette when they finished looking over their suit. Going over to the desk, he wrote down a quick note.

_Tikki,_

_keep the suit the same for Mari when she transforms, it will protect her and have anything she could need to help her in battle._

_Damian_

They slid the note under the box before pulling off the yo-yo and giving it a light swing as they jumped up onto the balcony. They swung off quickly and found the Akuma quickly, Stoneheart. They landed on a roof and watched as Stoneheart stumbled down the street, leaving cracks and overturned cars. Chloe and Mylene were in his grasp crying out in fear. A cat-themed teen ran up in a leather onesie that reminded Damian of Catwoman. “Who are you?” they asked and the cat hero startled, looking over at them shocked before smiling.

“I-I’m Chat Noir. And you are?” he asked, giving them a look that Damian didn’t like.

“I-m Ladybug. Do you understand what you can do?” Marinette asked and Chat Noir looked unsure for a bit before brightening.

“I have the power of destruction in the palm of my hand. Wanna see?” he asked and they shook their head.

“No, you only have one chance to use it so use it wisely. Do you know what happened?”

“Sorry, Bug. But I don’t know. Like you, I’m new to this,” he replied and they sighed.

The battle was a tough one. But soon they were finished. Unfortunately, right as they got ready to capture the Akuma, a teen identifying themselves as Alya shoved a phone into their faces and prevented it, letting it escape.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Emerald eyes opened after a sigh finished leaving their lips and a bright smile grew on their lips. “Dick! Hi again!” Dick sighed with a shake of his head but smiled softly himself.

“Hi, Mari. What had you needing a switch?” he asked as his brothers slowly made their way over, curious.

“Uh….I sorta got chosen to become a hero?” she said shyly, one hand moving to tug at their short hair.

“What!?” Jason shouted out shocked along with Dick and Tim.

“My thoughts exactly. A villain popped up and I got chosen to wield the Ladybug miraculous but well,” she said, giving a shy shrug and smile and the three nodded.

“Felt overwhelmed and the switch happened. But I have no doubt, pixie, that you can do this. Send yourself a text from his phone, that way we can easily send you videos on how to do things so that you don’t feel overwhelmed fighting. Sounds good?” Jason offered and it was _strange_ seeing Damian beaming at them. They nodded as they beamed, pulling out their phone, speaking a silent thanks that it was face-id. It was quick to send themselves a text saying soulmate. Feeling the pull, Mari sent the brothers one last smile before going back to herself.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Xan coughed roughly, hacking really. It felt like his throat was tearing as his lungs rid itself of the liquid. His hands scrapped themselves against the rough rocks surrounding the pit. Even as he cut himself trying to get out, the remaining liquid fixed the wounds easily, not leaving a trace besides the mark that did him in. When he finally stopped coughing, it felt like it took ages for that, he was left breathing raggedly.

He looked up, blinking away the water as a new hand came into sight and pushed back his hair that went in front of his eyes. “Now, have you learned your lesson?” she asked in her sickeningly smooth voice. He gnashed his teeth together as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Y-yes, Mistress Talia. I won’t fail this time,” he replied, letting her guards pull him up out of the pit.

“Good. I would hate for you to not be able to protect my son. You would be a terrible servant and guard if you couldn’t be better,” Talia replied as she turned her back to Xan. But she then turned her head to glance back at him. “Let’s get back to work. You need to exceed Damian’s skill level. But since he’s not here like he was when you first arrived, you’ll just need to exceed _my_ skill level. Don’t disappoint me. I’d hate to have to teach you that lesson again.” She left the room to head toward the training yard and Xan bowed his head as he accepted the towel to dry off the liquid.

 _Again? Are you going to take that? How many times has she_ taught _you this lesson? Too many times. It’s time you get back at her. Come on,_ do it _. It’ll feel_ so _good,_ he dragged the towel down his face as the pit’s influence tried getting him to kill Talia. But that wouldn’t be any help. He didn’t know where he was. So he just ignored it and started toward the yard where Talia had headed to, not wanting to anger her from taking too long.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**_4 Years Later_ **

Mari smiled as she landed on her bed, Tikki flew from her earrings and landed next to her. “Here,” she held out a cookie to Tikki who took it happily. “What do you think about my theory of Gabriel Agreste? While it seems weird that he would Akumatized himself, and it’s been a couple of years, do you trust me? It’s just-It’s too many things pointing to it being true,” Mari whispered, turning her head toward Tikki as Chat’s words filled her head, saying many rude things about how it wasn’t true.

“I trust you, Marinette. Your instincts haven’t been wrong yet. As Guardian in training, you need to trust your instincts. Like Fu does. He trusts you,” Tikki said and Mari sent Tikki a small smile at that.

“Ok, I’ll see if Damian and his family would be able to help us,” she picked up her phone and quickly sent the text with a hum, hoping they would indeed be able to help her solve who Hawkmoth is.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Damian looked around confused with a gasp. A grunt left him and he gripped his side and stumbled to the ground. _Where am I?_ He thought looking around the snowy landscape that was barely visible in the blizzard going on.

“ _Get him! If he doesn’t come back willingly he dies!_ ” Damian’s eyes widened as he recognized the language they spoke in. _The League_ , he thought, pushing himself to his feet and running forward with a cough. _We probably switched due to him being exhausted_ , he realized as he ran, it was a burden for _him_ to run, he couldn’t imagine how it felt running for your life while also mentally taxed. He fell to his knees behind a rock next to a frozen lake and his eyes widened. _Him. My own soulmate, taken and killed multiple times by my mother. How am I going to tell his sisters?_ He thought, recognizing the face he saw so long ago when he was 9. He could only be thankful he recognized them due to seeing Alya at the manor since she was Dick’s soulmate.

He could only pant as he pushed himself up once more and started running once more, if he remembered correctly, Mari told him about a temple nearby in Tibet. If he was lucky, there would be some medical supplies he could salvage.

“ _I need help over here! He’s injured!_ ” he could barely recognize and hear the old voice shouting. “ _Where are you hurt, young man?_ ”

“ _I-I need to-t….to get to Pa-Paris, Fra-nce….to Marinette-_ ” he whispered, falling to his knees. The old monk rushed forward and grabbed Xander as he started falling forward, everything screaming from running so long in the snow injured.

“ _Hurry!_ ” the man shouted before everything went black for Xander.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Xan didn’t know how to react when he felt like he was slammed into his soulmate’s body. But since all he knew for a while was pain, he fell to his hands and knees, taking ragged breaths. He heard voices shouting in alarm around him as his eyes focused on his hands. _Robin?_ he thought, confused, _my soulmate is Robin?_

“Robin!” a voice shouted and they looked up to see Nightwing in front of them with the rest of the Batfamily in tow.

“Damian, is everything ok?” Batman asked when he kneeled down in front of them in a quiet voice.

“D-Damian?” they whispered back and the group shared confused looks. “I-my soulmate’s name is Damian? I….I thought it was Marinette….what happened to Marinette?” he mumbled softly, his mind trying to shut down even thou Robin-Damian’s body was still going strong.

“Is it possible to have two soulmates? How come we never learned of this one before?” Red Hood asked softly to the others as Nightwing and Batman kept them upright.

“It’s entirely plausible, Hood, to have more than one soulmate. As for this, well, Damian never switched when he was with Talia, so those two would switch then and know each other. But since we’ve never been informed, we could assume that when Damian came to live with B, something happened to them around then. Hey, what’s your name?” Red Robin asked and they looked up with unfocused eyes.

“X-Xander……Gray-son,” he whispered with a ragged breath, not seeing Nightwing freeze up in front of him while the others looked confused. But they don’t have any time as Damian is looking up confused.

“Talia, We have to get him. He’s at the temple in Tibet Mari told us about,” Damian said and the group nodded.

“Nightwing?” Batman asked, wondering why exactly his son was frozen in shock. But he had a thought about what got him frozen.

“Xan,” he whispered, looking over at Red Robin who nodded and quickly typed, a transparent screen popping up.

“Oh man,” Red Robin mumbled, a newspaper clipping popping up.

“We were there, B. He’s the boy we watched Joker kill. On his birthday, _in front of his sisters,_ one of whom is my soulmate,” Nightwing replied and Batman stopped at that as he slowly nodded, recalling the night easily. He couldn’t figure out why Joker did what he did, the man had stopped fairly easily after killing Xander.

“Xander disappeared after being killed by Joker. Now we know why for everything. Except, why did Talia do this?” Red Hood commented sharing a look with everyone.

“I don’t think we’ll want to know,” Robin whispered, pushing himself upright. “But we have to hurry, he’s in fairly critical condition in snowy weather,” he continued and Batman nodded.

“Nightwing, you and Robin are coming with me to get Xander and bring him home. Hood, Red, you two stay here with the others and take care of Gotham while we’re gone. We’ll keep you updated,” Batman said and the two nodded with Oracle voicing her agreement over the comms.

“ _Should I tell them?_ ” she asked and Nightwing started shaking his head.

“No, I don’t want to raise their hopes in case something happens,” he whispered and they nodded.

“Let’s move,” Batman said, giving everyone a look before they split up.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Mari always knew her parents weren’t the best. No matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise, they stopped being attentive and good parents when she hit her pre-teens. They pulled back from her, stopped helping her much, stopped talking besides the simple good morning/goodnight, and at the dinner table. She grew to be independent, and when she stopped being friends with her classmates, she didn’t bother telling them. They only wanted to hear if she was doing well in school.

But…..

She thought they would at least always believe her.

She thought wrong.

Oh, how wrong she was.

The man in front of her, she recognized as Bruce Wayne, her soulmate's father, listened as her parents apologized. “I’m so sorry you had to overhear that,” Sabine said as Bruce waved it off.

“It’s my bad. I clearly came in at a bad time. I’ll come back-” he started but Sabine waved him off.

“Nonsense! I apologize for how rude our employee was, you didn’t deserve to hear that. Your order will be on the house!” Sabine said and Bruce watched as Mari’s heartbreak quite visibly on her face. Her parents didn’t even see her running out of the bakery.

“No, I’m quite sure. I’ll be going now,” he replied, leaving the place and looking around. Damian and Dick were with Fu, watching over Xan as Fu finished the healing the monks did. It was quite interesting to learn that when they arrived, the monks had just returned after taking Xan to Paris where they found an old member, Fu, to take care of him since he asked for Marinette. So he went out to get Mari since she’d be happy to see Xan after 8 years of silence.

He breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Mari sitting in the park fumbling with her phone. He made his way over to her and sat down next to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. Mari flinched but soon realized who it was and flung herself into his arms and hugged him. “I’m so sorry, Marinette. You didn’t deserve that. You said you beat Hawkmoth, correct?” he asked softly and she nodded.

“Y-yeah. A couple of weeks ago. Cha-Adrien, Adrien, turned to help him but they’re both behind bars now. So, I don’t really have anything keeping me back here,” she whispered sadly.

“Why don’t you come live with me and my family. We’ll help you get the proper schooling you need so that you’re prepared to run your own company. And so that you can be close to your soulmates,” he whispered and Mari gave a teary smile and nodded, trying to wipe away the tears that continued to fall.

“S-sounds good.”

“Come on, let’s go tell the boys the news, we can have Alfred call your grandparents to set up a meeting to tell them so that way you can focus on packing,” he replied standing up and held a hand out to her. She smiled as she took the help and stood up, letting Bruce wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her close like he’s done millions of times before with his sons. His other hand slid his phone out of his pocket and he sent a text to Alfred giving him the warning.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Damian didn’t leave Xan’s side much if ever, since they found him in Paris with Master Fu. He gingerly touched his side, the side that Xan had been wounded on when they switched. He was kneeling at Xan’s side when he saw Xan tensing up. Under Xan’s eyelids, Damian could see his eyes flicking around quickly, scared. Xan’s fingers twitched, his muscles tensing occasionally, Dick was talking with Fu over a cup of tea as they waited for Bruce. Silent pleas left Xan’s lips and Damian reached a handout and gently took Xan’s hand into his and hissed softly when Xan’s gripped his hand tightly. With his other hand, he ran his fingers throu Xan’s hair like he felt Dick do to him and saw do to his soulmate, Alya, when they were stressed.

That had an immediate effect. Xan instantly relaxed, no longer tense even thou his eyes continued to flicker about, but they were slowly slowing down. His death grip on Damian’s hand slowly lessened as well, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he ran his thumb across the back of Xan’s hand. “I’m so sorry for what my mother did to you,” Damian whispered softly, barely reacting to feeling Dick’s hand on his shoulder.

“Bruce will be here soon,” Dick warned and Damian nodded in understanding. But while he heard Dick, he didn’t turn away from Xan. However, seeing Xan’s silver eyes open, he blinked in surprise, his lips parting as he thought of what to say to the now awake Xan. Xan sucked in a breath, his eyes flicking all around the room taking in everyone. Before anyone can blink, Xan has pushed himself up and knocked Damian down with a swipe of his legs. When Damian was on the ground, Xan turned toward Dick. Dick could see the fear in Xan’s eyes as the teen rushed toward him. Dick jumped back and kept Xan focused on him as Damian got up and Fu kept back, not in any shape to help.

“Xander!” Damian shouted and that had Xan pausing as he turned to Damian. “Xan, please. It’s me, your soulmate,” he started and anger flashed throu Xan’s eyes as he rushed toward Damian with a shout. Damian managed to dodge and get behind Xan and wrapped his arms around Xan, pinning Xan’s arms to his side. With a movement they were both on the ground as Xan struggled to get free, going between mumbling and shouting in Arabic.

“ _Please! No more! Please! Please, don’t kill me,_ ” that last mumbled part had Damian looking sad. He held Xan close with a sigh and spoke back.

“ _It’s alright. Talia isn’t here and I’m nothing like her anymore. Believe me. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Marinette will be here soon, you remember her right? We’re with a friend of hers, he’s helping you,_ ” he mumbled.

“ _Marinette?_ ” that had Xan pausing, tears starting to gather in his eyes at knowing his other soulmate was indeed safe and sound. “ _No Talia? Safe really?_ ” the disbelief in Xan’s tone broke everyone's heart.

“ _Yes, you’re safe, Talia is nowhere near us_ ,” Damian assured and a gasped out sob left Xan. instead of his hands pushing Damian, they gripped his arms tightly as his head bowed. Damian moved slowly and pulled his soulmate close, letting Xan bury his head into his shoulder while his hands scrambled for a grip on the back of his turtleneck. Xan barely made a sound as his shoulders shook and Damian started humming a song under his breath that Jason taught him. Damian glanced up when he heard the door and watched as Bruce walked in with Mari in tow.

Mari looked shocked at the scene in front of them before making her way over and kneeling down carefully and resting a hand on Xan’s shoulder.

Xan pulled back at feeling the hand and raised his head, showing red-rimmed eyes. Mari had a sad look cross onto her face looking at Xan. “Oh Xan,” she whispered holding him close as Xan gripped her jacket tightly, trying to calm down but not having the best success. “What happened?” Mari whispered, looking between Damian and his family.

“My mother. She took him and made his life miserable,” Damian whispered, keeping it vague since he didn’t think he could stand seeing her face at knowing the truth. At least yet. She deserves the truth. But that can wait for after Xan has recovered.

“He needs to rest. He’s been through a lot,” Fu said walking over, a steaming cup of tea in hand. With some coaxing, Mari managed to get Xan to look at Fu. “Drink, it will help,” he said, giving Xan a kind smile. Xan nodded slowly as he saw his soulmates nodding and took the cup from the man. He took a sip and sighed, the tea’s warmth spreading through him. He continued to sip the tea as it’s warmth helped him relax. He soon finished the cup and Fu took it from his drooping hands. He was nodding off in their hands and the two shared a smile as they laid Xan down on the spare bed Fu had made.

Mari was hesitant to leave Xan’s side so she stayed with Damian at Fu’s place as Bruce talked with her grandparents about the best place to meet the next day. She sighed softly as she relaxed against Damian’s side, her eyes never leaving Xan’s face as he slept, ready to move should he have a nightmare.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~**

After a week of staying with Fu to make sure everything was alright, and finalizing Mari’s guardianship to her grandparents who subsequently allowed her to stay with her soulmates in Gotham, they were on the plane. Xan fidgeted in his seat between Damian and Mari, sometimes rubbing the scars on his neck and letting them see glances of the big tattoo peeking out of his shirt. After one of the first times of seeing it, Damian’s fingers traced an edge of the very same tattoo he had that he changed.

Instead of a harsh, jagged-edged dragon, it was a soft-edged dragon, looking like traditional medieval dragons, with broken chains at its feet. If Xan ever wanted, he knew he’d take him to the same person that covered his.

He pushed those thoughts away as he saw Xan dig his finger in right where the edge of his tattoo sat. Damian hummed softly as he gently took Xan’s hand and pulled it away, holding it in both hands as Mari rubbed a hand in circles along his spine. “Everything will be ok,” he whispered and his heart cracked at seeing Xan’s broken expression, fear clear in his silver gaze.

“How can you be certain? They must hate me,” Xan whispered, glancing down at their conjoined hands.

“Because, while you may have been forced to do stuff, you’re still their little brother. Last I heard, they still miss you dearly. I think they’re going to be too relieved to have you back to care about anything else,” Mari whispered with Damian nodding agreement.

“You’re eldest sister, Alya, she knows about my past and she doesn’t judge me for it. She understands that there was no other choice. She’ll feel the same way for you,” Damian said, and that had Xan brightening a tad.

“What about Lana?”

“She doesn’t know as much, but she didn’t hold it over me. They both understand that you do what you have to to survive. So I have no doubt that they won’t blame you for what happened,” Damian replied, receiving a small smile in return from Xan.

“Ya. Thank you,” he whispered, squeezing Damian’s hand before forcing himself to relax as they had a long flight ahead of them. With what felt like all eternity and no time at all, the plane was landed in Gotham. Dick bounded out of the plane and hugged his soulmate close, whispering sweet nothings into her ear. Xan was paused at the entrance of the plane, watching Alya hug Dick close and giggling softly, looking happy without him. A bit further back, he saw Lana and she was speaking to Tim about something, maybe asking why she was there. While Bruce walked past them to most likely talk to Tim about the going ons while he was away, Xan was frozen, _terrified_ to move an inch.

“It’s ok, they’ll be excited to see you,” Mari whispered, tangling their fingers together and she smiled at feeling Xan squeeze her hand while taking a deep breath.

“Ok,” he whispered, walking out of the plane with his soulmates right by his side. He watched as Lana’s waterbottle crashed to the floor in shock. That startled Alya from her hug with Dick, causing her to look over at Lana worried.

“Hey,” he whispered and Alya jerked around to look at him shocked. Tears gathered in their eyes at seeing him standing there.

“Xan?” Lana whispered out the question, her voice cracking slightly. Xan nodded, tearing up a bit himself as he let his soulmate’s hands go as he took a few steps forward before his sisters reached him and hugged him tightly. They didn’t say anything as they hugged, making soft sounds as they either held back tears or tried stopping tears.

After a bit, they pulled back from the hug and smiled happily even as tears continued to fall. “Why don’t we head somewhere private,” Damian whispered and the three nodded agreement.

“Y-ya, let’s,” Alya whispered, whipping away her tears and gripping Dick’s hand as they left the airport.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so here it is! I started this ages ago so the end may seem a bit…………….idk….rushed? Different? Something. I just wanted to get this done since its been waiting for awhile. So ya, I hope you guys enjoyed this. Until next time!!! ~Love Willa<3<3<3


End file.
